Here are some photos from the 2 week course I took this summer. We stayed in small cabins on the beautiful Flathead Lake in northern Montana, the site of the university's biological research station. Most of our days were spent in the field in Glacier National Park with various conservationists. We met with scientists who work on projects ranging from grizzly population management, grey wolf conservation, fire ecology, tadpole breeding habits to invasive plants. Their work was inspiring and along the way we had the opportunity to see some beautiful scenery!
Here is an evening view from my cabin on Flathead Lake. I loved the way the sun peered through the clouds.
Harrison Lake, GNP.
Jeff Stetz, who works on the grizzly population project, installs a camera to try to catch images of grizzlies rubbing on bear rub trees.
Bear rub tree.
Nayak Flood Plain. Here we studied tadpole breeding ponds.
Boreal Toad tadpoles!!
Polebridge is a VERY small town near the northern portion of Glacier. It was quite eclectic. Below are some shots of the area.
Their only bathroom was this outhouse.
They even had a three legged dog roaming around. So cute!
A baby spruce grouse that a classmate of mine snatched up. Probably not the best idea!
Diane Boyd, a wolf researcher showing us a bear rub tree -- there were remnants of grizzly hair caught on the bark of the tree.
Wolf skat . . . a little gross! Diane explained that this must have been from a wolf that was "lower" in the pack order. Its skat was full of hair indicating that it was one of the last to eat from the kill and didn't get much meat.
An old wolf den near Dover's Pike, GNP.
Hidden Meadow, GNP.
An old wolf den near Dover's Pike, GNP.
Hidden Meadow, GNP.
Mr. toad just hangin' out! We spent a day tromping through the muck catching toads and swabing them in order to check for signs of chytrid virus.
Aster Falls, GNP. Here we spent time searching for rocky mountain tailed frog tadpoles. They lach on to the bottom of river rock and thrive in very cold water.
Bouman Lake, GNP. Here we spoke with Wade Fredenberg about the plight of the Bull Trout, a species whose numbers have been declining.
A field of fire weed...beautiful pink flowers that come up soon after a forest fire.
A hazy view from the top of Apgar Lookout, GNP. Due to the many fires the area has experienced over the summer, many of the views were quite hazy.
A towering ponderosa pine on National Forest Land.
A large burn scar...look how deep it is!
Ponderosa pines are characterized by large chunky bark...I thought it was pretty. It smells like vanilla!
The tree also had what looked like grizzly scratch marks!
More scratch marks!
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